Melbourn won 10-4

Another week, another match, and this promised to be a tough one as we welcomed second-in-the-table Allenburys to Melbourn.

Liam Murphy vs Gavin Bone, 3rd String:

First on was the third stings, which pitted Liam against Gavin. Apparently there had been some irritable words between these two in the first meeting of the teams in Ware earlier in the season. There was no direct evidence of it in the return, but maybe there was something indirect in how wound up Liam appeared in the first. This resulted in some poor shot choices, mistakes and general irritation with how things were going. Gavin took full advantage of the chances offered to bring out his boast – his main attacking weapon – and race away with things from 7-5 up to claim the game 15-8.
Game two started off in a similar vein as Liam made errors. However these can be overcome with determination, which is exactly what the Melbourn player managed as he turned around 6-4 and 8-6 deficits in high style to win the game 15-10. That damped the annoyance down enough to allow a chat with teammates which meant the view from the balcony could be shared that it wasn’t just failure to execute but also court position that was causing Liam problems – get higher on the ‘t’ to cover Gavin’s main attacking weapon and Liam should dominate.
For the first half of game three it seemed like the message was fully on board as Liam rattled into a 9-3 lead. But this was to be a curates egg of a game as he promptly lost his way, forced things too hard again and six rallies later found himself all-square at 9-all. A refocus and reconcentration on length and rally construction meant a three point lead was re-established, which was enough to sneak through the game 15-13. And that finally, was the key as game four saw Liam up the court, pushing Gavin back deep (and looking tired). The boasts were now being picked off for counter-drop winners as Liam closed things out comprehensively, winning 8-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-7.

Aidan Hird vs Gareth Jones, 2nd string:

The second match on court was a very familiar affair as Aidan found himself up against Gareth, who in the winter plays for Melbourn in the Cambs League and is a regular at team training (both had been along the previous Sunday, in fact). This felt like it might be a good thing for Aidan, who often fails to produce his best Squash on match nights due to the pressure of having teammates hoping he does well.
Initial signs were promising as Aidan looked relaxed and was moving well, despite some pre-match worrying about a knee problem. He was soon ahead 11-3 in the first. But it’s hard to keep Gareth and his ultra-attacking game down, and he ruffled Aidan’s feathers a bit with four straight points mid-game.. but ultimately not enough to recover the advantage – 15-9 to the Melbourn player representing Melbourn on the evening in the first.
Game two saw points go in streaks. First Aidan rattled himself to 4-1 ahead. Then Gareth won a couple of points and tense Aidan made his first appearance of the night as his play got frenetic and overly attacking – as his arm moved faster, his feet got more and more stuck, with errors coming thick and fast. Seven rallies out of eight went Gareth’s way as he moved 8-5 up. But after that Aidan calmed down somewhat, got his feet moving again and ran through seven straight points of his own to lead 12-8. What would happen next? Well, a reversal back to Gareth of course as Aidan lost a couple of rallies and was clearly concerned about blowing his lead again. He didn’t though as Gareth is also prone to the odd error, making two critical ones on what should have been drop shot winners at 12-13 and 12-14, the ball spinning off the dangled racquet face and bouncing into the tin to hand Aidan the game 15-12.
Calm down and slow down. A simple message, but hard to execute. Yes? No. Because Aidan took this on board entirely and produced a minor masterpiece in game three. Aidan is known around the leagues for his shuddering groundstroke power, but has a tendency to over-use this, especially when he is feeling jittery. Game three saw him play at least the opening five rallies simply on control, 60-70% hitting, looking for lengths and tightness. This allowed the adrenalin to drop back to levels where controlled Squash was possible… and the result was simply unplayable as Aidan was suddenly on a practice court on a Sunday with the first team, playing first team standard Squash. Much too rich for Gareth’s blood. The Allenburys-on-the-day player did claim a couple of points mid-game but facing Aidan not making errors was simply too much and resulted in Aidan wrapping up a 15-9, 15-12, 15-2 (sic) success.

Jan Brynjolffssen vs Ben Griffith, 1st String:

A great match to watch with an interesting contrast in styles. The first game started out with flowing and accurate squash from both players. Jan was a few points adrift by mid-game but pulled it back with a couple of pinpoint drops and some great tight lengths, exploiting our courts' noted tendency to eat anything hit accurately into the back corners. He held the court with patience and took his finishing opportunities well but lost out by turns to Ben's accuracy and low-margin kills. The exchange of points continued to 12-12 before a couple of looser rallies from Jan let Ben snatch it.
The pattern continued to developed further in the second game, with Jan taking an early lead as Ben tried and failed to grab points with risky shots from difficult positions. The Melbourn player settled in to await the game being handed to him, and while he was forced to watch the drops that missed the tin going unreachably short, his consistency was rewarded and they walked off at 1-1.
Ben appeared to have improved his focus in the third, being noticeably more mobile and awaiting a clearer advantage before attempting a finish. The rallies ground on longer but Jan was equal to it, staying in touch as his opponent's winners again became gradually more spectacular and risky-looking. Jan kept things tight and steady to take it to 12-12, before his consistency suddenly wavered for a vital few points and the game escaped him.
The 4th was a looser affair, with Ben looking tired from the outset and Jan gradually following him. Again, it was fireworks against stability with points traded, but at 7-7, Ben hit a rich seam of drops and tight drives and a 6 point lead quickly appeared. Jan fought hard in the last couple of points as rallies became messier but couldn't pull it back. Final scores were 12-15, 15-10, 14-16, 8-15.

Jan commented after the game “Aidan produced the performance of the night in his third game – given his attacking style he usually makes some mistakes. But in game three he made exactly none, and if he does that he becomes a beast to play against. Gareth was unlucky to get him in such form.
“Liam’s win was gritty – he initially looked out of sorts but turned it around well. I was happy to get a point against a stronger player, though that drop shot haunts. But even with that going down we still gained a 2-1 win against a promotion chasing team, and that is a great result.”